George Santayana had irrational faith in reason - I have irrational faith in TV.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Breaking Bad 5.7: Exit Mike

A peaceful scene. Mike sitting by the water. Walter hurries over. And the last thing we hear Mike say - to Walter - is "let me die in peace".

So is this it for Mike? Probably so. Bested by Walter, whom Mike has had diminishing contempt for over the years. Out-thought, out-maneuvered by Walter in the end. Mike was stronger than Walter, vastly better at physical intimation and gun play, but it didn't matter. On Breaking Bad, the breaks go in there own twisted way to Walter.

But the kicker? There's always a kicker on Breaking Bad. Walter realizes that he didn't have to have this confrontation with Mike after all. Walter could have gotten the names which Mike had refused to divulge - from Lydia. So there was no reason to shoot and presumably kill Mike.

And this is another prime example of the why the show is named and about breaking bad. As brilliant as Walter is, things always go wrong, all too often very wrong, in the business he's in. Or maybe this is characteristic of life in general, for which Breaking Bad is an indelible announcement. No matter how smart you are, how well you plan, the ball can take a bad bounce. One week killing a kid in a heist that was meticulously planned so that there would be no killings, a few weeks later killing Mike when there was no reason.

So now it's back to Walter and Jesse, who is insistent on wanting out. The Gus era is more fully gone, with just Lydia now, who wasn't even on the show until this year. And Hank remains a threat to everything - in fact, an increasing threat, given his promotion and new power. He was the one who forced Mike into a series of moves that put Mike in the way of Walter.

Next week is the semi-final-season finale. I'm going to really miss this series when it's over, and savor every episode until then. There's nothing like it on television.

About Me

Paul Levinson, PhD, is Professor of Communication &
Media Studies at Fordham University in New York City.His 8 nonfiction books, including The Soft Edge (1997),
Digital McLuhan (1999), Realspace (2003), Cellphone (2004), and New New Media (2009, 2nd edition 2012), have been the
subject of major articles in the New York Times, Wired, the Christian Science
Monitor, and have been translated into 12 languages. His science fiction novels include The Silk Code (1999, ebook 2012), Borrowed Tides (2001), TheConsciousness Plague (2002, 2013), The Pixel Eye (2003), The Plot To SaveSocrates (2006, ebook 2012), and Unburning Alexandria (2013).His short stories
have been nominated for Nebula, Hugo, Edgar, and Sturgeon Awards.Paul Levinson appears on "The
O'Reilly Factor" (Fox News), "The CBS Evening News,"“NewsHour with Jim Lehrer” (PBS),“Nightline” (ABC), NPR, and numerous
national and international TV and radio programs. His 1972 album, Twice Upon a Rhyme, was re-issued in 2009 (CD) and 2010 (remastered vinyl). He reviews the best of
television in his InfiniteRegress.tv blog, and was listed in The Chronicle of
Higher Education’s “Top 10 Academic Twitterers” in 2009.

e-mail received from a reader:Dear Paul, I just dreamed of airships flying between raindrops. I just returned from 2042 CE, where I sold my hardcover copy of The Plot to Save Socrates for seventy million Neo-Euros, because it had your response to this e-mail from way back in 2007 scotch-taped onto the inside of the cover. A Paul Levinson collector paid top Neo-Euro, because of the authentic archaic e-mail printout from you. It turns out that not many of your e-mails from before your tenure as CEO of HBO/Cinemax and terms as United Nations Secretary General will survive that far into the future. So, please respond to this e-mail, to help found my great-grandchildren's fortune. My Will will stipulate that they must share with your great grandchidren. Thanks! Tom